Teen dies in lake off Wilmette beach

Staff report

A 14-year-old boy died after being pulled from Lake Michigan this evening off of Gillson Park in Wilmette.

Emergency personnel began searching about 5:30 p.m. in the water off the beach near Sheridan Road and Michigan Avenue in the North Shore suburb, and the search ended about 7 p.m. when the body was pulled from the water.

Apparently, the teen was swimming with two other friends who reported him missing when he failed to return to shore, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Rescuers responded to the scene and conducted a shoreline and aerial search. The youth was found by a dive team, he said.

A witness saw officials pull the youth from the water and put him onto a stretcher while performing CPR. He was then placed into a Wilmette fire ambulance and taken from the scene.

Tristan Shambee, 14, of 1929 Grey Avenue in Evanston was pronounced dead at 7:26 p.m. at Northshore University Health System Evanston Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. An autopsy was scheduled for Sunday.

There were "several companies in Gillson Park for a rescue," said Wilmette Fire Department Duty Chief Paul Berguist. He declined further comment.

A U.S. Coast Guard official would not discuss the search but said there were choppy water conditions this evening with high winds and waves reaching between 6 and 8 feet.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Dustin Welch said the wind on the lake reached 20 knots, equivalent to 20 nautical miles per hours, producing dangerous conditions.

“That would be pretty high winds,” Welch said.

In addition to the Coast Guard and Wilmette, responders from Park Ridge, Deerfield-Bannockburn, Winnetka, Northbrook, Glenview, Highland Park, Evanston, Skokie and Glencoe all were at the scene during the search.

The person was found in the water on the north side of the jetty that separates the beach from Wilmette Harbor, which is near the border of Evanston and Wilmette.